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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25449307">Hiss and Scratch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdyTurtle96/pseuds/TheNerdyTurtle96'>TheNerdyTurtle96</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cats, Gen, Hermit Fear Headcanons, Phobias</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:48:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,597</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25449307</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdyTurtle96/pseuds/TheNerdyTurtle96</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Doc is a mad scientist who isn't afraid of anything. Actually, that's not true. His only weakness is cats.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>96</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hiss and Scratch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedXD/gifts">RedXD</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm not planning on uploading daily, but this idea hit me yesterday and it only took about 2 hours to write. This is for RedXD and inspired by their amazing Hermit Fear Headcanons series. I love reading those stories and this one is for you. Cross-posted on Wattpad. (@TheNerdyTurtle96)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Doc had a reputation among the hermits. He was known as a mad scientist, a scary-good fighter, especially with a trident, and completely fearless. Unfortunately, that wasn’t actually true. As much as Doc wished it weren’t so, he was deathly afraid of one thing: cats. It was part of being partially creeper from a long-ago experiment gone bad, but he wanted to get rid of his fear as soon as possible. He had a reputation to uphold, after all, and if word got out that the almighty Goatfather Docm77 was scared of cats, he knew that he would become a laughingstock. </p><p>Everyone on Hermitcraft could at least tolerate cats, even if they were more of a dog person. Many of the hermits had a cat themselves. Scar had Jellie, Hypno was the proud owner of Max, and Grian had two: Pearl and Maui. Even Mumbo had a cat. So far, Doc had been able to hide his fear of cats, but he knew that it wouldn’t stay secret for much longer. As a campaign promise, the new mayor Scar had promised every hermit a cat. Plus, with several people opening up about their phobias, everyone was slightly more perceptive to fears. </p><p>No, Doc decided to deal with this himself and banish his stupid fear before anyone else figured it out. That was why he was heading out to a faraway village that somehow had not been raided for it’s valuable, yet stubborn inhabitants yet. Villagers weren’t what he was looking for this time. He was here because villages had lots of cats. Doc’s research said that exposure therapy was one of the best ways to get rid of a fear, so he figured that being around so many cats would get this deal over with soon. He also could go visit a hermit that had a cat, but what if he had some sort of panic attack around the cat? Then he would have to explain his fear and that was the last thing he wanted to do. </p><p>He wasn’t even entirely sure why he was scared of cats. That was one of the other strategies that had been recommended. Logically, Doc could reason his way out of this phobia, right? Somehow, that only made things worse. Cats hissed, just like the creeper instincts that he was trying to get rid of. Cats scratched, too. Their sharp claws would dig into your skin and tear the flesh open. A small jab of pain would alert you to the presence of the wound and a drip of blood would escape it. The more Doc thought about it, the more logical his fear of cats seemed. </p><p>As that technique quickly proved to be counterproductive, Doc abandoned that train of thought and switched his attention over to safely landing at the center of the village. Several villagers were chatting by the well, as the workday had just finished. They nodded a quick hello to Doc before returning to their conversation, which was in a local language that he unfortunately couldn’t understand. </p><p>Soon, the cyborg spotted a cat strolling down the path. Cautiously, the orange tabby stepped towards the frozen Doc. It didn’t seem to want to hurt him, but all he could think about was the cat’s claws sinking into his skin. Panic bubbled up inside of him and urged him to get out of there and go home. He couldn’t move, though, and as the cat crept closer, the emotions only intensified. When the cat was two blocks away, he couldn’t take it anymore. A scream erupted from his throat and the cat scrambled away and disappeared behind a building. </p><p>The noise caught the attention of several villagers, who were mostly looking confused. They seemed to put the puzzle pieces together, however, when another cat, this time mangy and grey, approached Doc and the same reaction happened. It was absolutely ridiculous and humiliating to hear himself screaming like a little kid at the sight of a cat, but he couldn’t stop it. Every step the cats took towards him made the images of the claws brighter and louder in his head. A hissing sound grew in volume as well and it drowned out every other thought. </p><p>The process repeating with a third cat finally broke the villagers, who started laughing at the cyborg. Some of them were just chuckling, others were rolling on the ground, but none of them could keep a straight face. Tears would have started welling up in his eyes right then, but neither creepers nor redstone had the ability to cry. Instead, Doc began to sob internally, his worst fears being validated. It was just a bunch of stupid villagers, yet somehow their opinions were the most important thing in the world to him. Soon, his anguish turned into anger and his trusty trident slipped into his hand. </p><p>At the sight of the weapon, the villagers hastily fled away from Doc, as did the rest of the cats. A slight smile briefly revealed itself as he stuck the trident back into his pack and plopped down next to the well. He wasn’t angry enough to chase and kill the villagers, but he was still feeling awful. Pulling his knees up to his chest, Doc buried his head and wrapped his arms around himself. It wasn’t a comfortable position, but it helped to not be able to see anything else. Without any villagers or cats around, he could think again and the mental images faded just a bit. </p><p>They soon returned in full-color when a small noise pierced through the mental fog where Doc was deeply lost in his thoughts. </p><p>“Meow.”</p><p>Jerking his head up, his eyes widened and his heart started racing as he realized what was in front of him. A slender black-brown cat was standing right there and was slowly getting closer. The panic returned at full blast and Doc was completely paralyzed to do anything. When the cat finally brushed up against his legs, he thought that he would black out from the mental pain. Fainting would have at least been less painful than having to think about how stupid and weak he was. He was this scared of a silly little cat? How ridiculous and pitiful. How could he be his intimidating self around anyone if they knew about this?</p><p>Desperately, Doc tried to move and fly out from the village as fast as he could. Exposure therapy could be marked down as a huge failure and he could try something else. Right now, he just needed to get away from this cat that was causing a full-on mental breakdown. Something was restraining him and forcing him to stay conscious as the cat continued to rub against his legs. Every muscle in his body screamed for him to get up and leave, but he couldn’t heed their calls. Even worse, the cat seemed to be enjoying it, as it was now contently purring.</p><p>Slowly, the cat’s repetitive motions started to sooth his fears just the tiniest bit. It was enough to cautiously reach out a hand and lightly touch a fingertip to an end of fur. The hair was soft and silky, not like the sharp claws that he feared so much. Carefully, Doc stroked the cat’s back with one finger and it crawled even closer towards him. Now, he could reach with his whole hand and the anxiety that he had had before dwindled with each touch. Several minutes passed before the cat laid down and stretched it’s limbs out. Only then did Doc see it’s claws, or rather, lack of them. Somebody had declawed this cat. He had no idea who it was, but he silently thanked the mysterious stranger.</p><p>Finally, without the threat of scratching claws, he felt comfortable enough to reach towards the cat and give it a bite of fish that he had brought along. It stood up, sniffed the food, and observed it from several angles before delicately bending down and taking a nibble. Doc watched, entranced as the cat ate so peacefully and lady-like. Once the fish was gone, the cat lifted it’s head and stared expectantly at Doc. A true smile broke onto his face as he set down another piece of fish and leaned back against the edge of the well.</p><p>Some time later, the cat seemed to be full and returned to rubbing against the cyborg’s legs. This time, he chuckled and confidently pet the cat, his fear still there, but much quieter now. On a whim, he glanced down at it’s neck to check for a collar, which the cat didn’t have. This cat was getting attached to him and he was somewhat okay with that. If he were to take it home, however, it would need a name. The more time that Doc spent with the cat, the more real the possibility of keeping it became, so the cyborg started thinking hard about a good name.</p><p>It was a female cat, which narrowed down the options a bit. It’s fur was mostly black, so perhaps Midnight? Maybe just Night. No, that would be a bit too weird for his liking. Really, it needed a human name. How about Rose? That didn’t sound right, either. Would making it Rosie be better? That was slightly closer. Then, it hit him.</p><p>“Gracie,” he mused out loud. As if to confirm his choice, the cat looked up at him and meowed. A content smile rested on the cyborg’s face.</p><p>“Yes, I think I’ll keep you, Gracie.” Doc could almost see Gracie smile, too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In case you didn't know, Gracie is Doc's real life cat. If you haven't seen a picture of her before, check Doc's Twitter. Also, I tried to write this with as little dialogue as possible. I kind of like this style, but it's a lot easier when there's only one character involved. I'd love to hear what you think.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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